100810-Le-Mans_eng_Innen.indd 2-3 15.08.17 11:50 10 WARM-UP 24 START C 26 Friendship 52 Benedikt Rauch 56 Chad McQueen 60 RACE 62 LEGENDARY LE MANS 70 24 HOURS OF LE MANS: 1970 RACE O 72 Breathless through the night 74 Richard Attwood – Le Mans winner 1970 78 Hans Herrmann – Le Mans winner 1970 82 Peter Falk – Le Mans technician 1970 86 Hans Mezger – Le Mans technician 1970 90 Herbert Linge – Technician, racing driver and pilot of the camera car at Le Mans 1970 94 Kurt Ahrens – Racing driver, competitor at Le Mans 1970 98 RACE CARS N 100 The dominator: Porsche 917 102 The red rival: Ferrari 512 S 104 A lap back then with Hans Herrmann 108 A lap today with Mark Webber 110 MAKING OF 112 FIVE MONTHS OF MOVIE HISTORY 116 Minimal: the plot T 120 The movie fleet 124 A VILLAGE IS THE WORLD: SOLAR VILLAGE 128 STORIES FROM THE SET 134 Dr. Christian Riml – Production Assistant ¸ 136 Adriano Cimarosti – Journalist and movie extra 138 Richard Attwood – Driver in the movie and Le Mans winner 1970 140 Jürgen Barth – Driver in the movie, engineer and Le Mans winner 1977 142 Derek Bell – Driver in the movie and Le Mans winner 1975, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1987 E 146 Herbert Linge – Driver in the movie, engineer and racing driver 152 David Piper – Driver in the movie and racing driver 156 STUNTMEN 158 Profile Dr. Erich Glavitza: Scrap-metal makers 162 Peter Huber – Stuntman 166 BEHIND THE SCENES: WHATEVER IT TAKES 174 BITS & PIECES N 182 HERITAGE 184 45 YEARS ON 186 Porsche 911-0301502 188 Porsche 908-022 190 Porsche 917-023 192 A star on the wrist 198 Tom Kristensen, nine-time Le Mans winner and record holder: Thoughts on Le Mans 200 Patrick Dempsey, Actor and racing driver: The new McQueen? T 202 Fredy Zurbrügg, cook and gastronome: On Steve Steak and other morsels 208 FINISH 100810-Le-Mans_eng_Innen.indd S 4-5 15.08.17 11:50 The 24 Hours of Le Mans – a motorsport legend that has lost none of its luster to this day. It’s one of the oldest and most prestigious races on the planet; many experts would even say it’s the world’s greatest. The famous Le Mans start was invented here in 1925, and went on to become widely used in sports car racing for decades. Many drivers felt it was simply too dangerous, and six-time winner Jacky Ickx helped bring the practice to an end when, in 1969, he slowly strolled over to his Ford GT 40, started from the back of the pack and still won the race. Since 1971, the Le Mans 24 Hours has started with a formation lap followed by a flying start. As far as I’m concerned, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is the most fascinating motorsport event. I’ll never forget how honored I felt to drive the fully-restored winning car of ¸ 1939 around the famous circuit. Steve McQueen paid a unique tribute to the legend of Le Mans by producing authentic footage with unprecedented meticulousness and immense effort – and with no concern for the expense. The film tells of the rivalry between Porsche and Ferrari and of the duel between the two drivers Michael Delaney and Erich Stahler, played by Steve McQueen and Siggi Rauch. A great deal has already been published about this story. Nevertheless, there are still many exciting anecdotes that have never been recorded. Only a few people know about the close friendship between Siegfried Rauch and Steve McQueen. Steve was godfather to Benedikt Rauch, and with their wives Karin and Neile, the actors visited each other in Bavaria and Hollywood. Exclusive and as yet unpublished documents from these encounters have come to light, including letters from Steve to Siggi and private photos from the families’ albums – enough material to enable us to dive even deeper into this topic in Our Le Mans – the film, the friendship, the facts. I would like to thank Karin and Siegfried Rauch for their trust, their openness and their warmheartedness, and Benedikt Rauch for his support. Thank you to Dirk Bartling for giving this book project the decisive push. My thanks also to Nadja Kneissler, Alexander Failing, Christian Steiger, Frank B. Meyer and Hartmut Lehbrink for the constructive and inspiring discussions, for sharing the passion, and for their extensive and very helpful support, without which this book would never have come into existence. Hans Hamer 7 100810-Le-Mans_eng_Innen.indd 6-7 15.08.17 11:50 At the Rauch’s home in Upper Bavaria, McQueen discovers an ideal world. 14 100810-Le-Mans_eng_Innen.indd 14-15 15.08.17 11:50 ¸ F R I E NSHIP D Sporting friends: While Siegfried Rauch likes to keep fit with a road bike, McQueen prefers the powerful off-road bike. 27 100810-Le-Mans_eng_Innen.indd 26-27 15.08.17 11:50 28 Sparks sometimes flew during discussions with John Sturges’ successor, Lee Katzin. 100810-Le-Mans_eng_Innen.indd 28-29 15.08.17 11:50 ¸ LE G E LE MANS ND AR In 1987, a chicane is added at the fast approach to the famous Dunlop bridge to reduce the speed. In 2005 and 2006, this passage is further modified to accommodate a larger run-off area, especially for motorcycle races. Y 63 100810-Le-Mans_eng_Innen.indd 62-63 15.08.17 11:51 Only change is constant: Like the Grand Prix circuit in the Principality of Monaco, the storied racetrack of Le Mans has received ongoing modifications; for instance the 1991 and 1992 upgrade to a new and modern pit complex. Driving errors are now punished less severely. 64 100810-Le-Mans_eng_Innen.indd 64-65 15.08.17 11:51 Le Mans – it’s one of those alluring names; dazzling, Each stands for something different: Monaco repre- enigmatic, complex. sents grace, glamour, and glory – the ultimate Grand Prix; Indy epitomizes the full-throttle orgy; and The fact that the city of Le Mans is the capital of the Le Mans is the apotheosis of long-distance sports Sarthe department, in the catchment area of the car racing. Somebody once came up with the idea of Loire, with a slow-growing population of 144,000, is a Triple Crown, an imaginary distinction for victory at ¸ largely irrelevant in this part of the world. Such facts all three events. To this day only one person has are known only to the types of people who sit in the managed this feat: the mustached Englishman torture chair of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. The Graham Hill, Formula 1 World Champion of 1962 and architectural treasures, including a Gallo-Roman city 1968, five-time winner in the Principality between wall from the third century and the elegantly but- 1963 and 1969, Indianapolis winner in 1966, and vic- tressed Romanesque-Gothic Saint Julien Cathedral, tor on the Sarthe circuit in 1972. Surprisingly, Hill have never really been on the tourist trail. And con- never receives a front-row seat in the ranks of the noisseurs from abroad aren’t exactly clambering over greatest. each other to sample the culinary delights of the city’s one and only Michelin-star restaurant. Our current hotshot, Juan Pablo Montoya, notches up victories at Indy (2000) and Monaco (2004), but It’s a little-known fact that England’s King Henry II stubbornly refuses to take on Le Mans. From 29 at- was born in Le Mans. But it’s an important one – tempts, the brilliantly versatile Mario Andretti wins after all, it was he who, on 29 December 1170, the Indianapolis 500 only once (1969). There’s talk of famously had four of his knights brutally murder his the Andretti Curse. This jinx also follows the clever clerical adversary and former friend, Chancellor Italian-American to other battlefields: despite his Thomas Becket, at Canterbury Cathedral; a misdeed often-expressed keen interest, the top spot at the Chicanery: Exiting the Ford At the Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg, contested a 1977 with his Porsche 936. Recently, the race organ- that had considerable literary consequences. two other premier events remains elusive, like water chicanes, shown here going week after the Sarthe marathon, Hülkenberg walks izer, Automobile Club de l‘Ouest, has put a stop to and delicious fruit for the thirsty, hungry Tantalus in against the driving direction, through the paddock as if swathed in an invisible the dangerous habit of parking defective but still But history and architecture aside, Le Mans is synon- the Greek myth. the vehicles accelerate toward purple cloak – the sprinter who became a long-dis- drivable cars for hours in the pits or at the side of the the finish line, with the fastest ymous with the 24-hour race, the original that has tance athlete, the 100-meter runner who outpaced racetrack to ultimately limp, wounded, over the line cars doing roughly 125 km/h eclipsed so many clones, like the 24 Hours of Dayto- In the meantime, the days of the all-rounders seem the veterans on their own turf in the 1,500-meter at the end to score. Today, competitors must cover a in third gear. By the time they na, Spa, or the Nürburgring, and even the entire Le to be gone and the specialists have taken over. In event. Sporadic applause greets him; astonishment certain distance in the last hour, and a total of enter the Dunlop curve at the Mans series contested on many continents. A single particular, Formula 1 only reluctantly allows its rac- end of the pit complex they’re at something so utterly unusual.